Hi,
Everyone! One of Savarkar’s traits that make him such a remarkable person is
that he had pride in his nation, people, and country and his thirst to free his
motherland from slavery from a very early age.
He
also had the courage, strength, and capability to vocalize it and organize a
revolution toward that goal. It was in 1898 that he took the formidable oath
for the cause—at the tender age of fifteen. It was in that same year that he
wrote a poem advocating swadeshi.
In
1898, India was far, far away from such a concept, indeed! It was extremely
remarkable that a young boy of fifteen should recognize that the British were
looting the wealth of India, taking raw materials from her, and bringing back a
finished product to make a whopping profit off the Indians and wiping out all
their arts. In 1898, Savarkar went beyond recognizing this to urging his
fellowmen to do something about it: adopting of swadeshi goods!
His
poem, Swadeshicha phatka, which I
have translated as Swadeshi Stroke,
is a masterpiece! It is most excellently conceived and written. Besides the general rhymes, meter, and tone, I
really love the way he has rhyming words or repetition of sounds in the same
line while portraying its import:
“आर्यबंधु उठा उठा कां मठासारखे नटा सदा
हटा सोडूनी कटा करूं या म्लेंछपटां ना धरूं कदा”
“मलमल
त्यजुनी
वलवल
चित्तीं
हलहलके पट कां वरितां ?”
“कामधेनुका भरतभूमिका असुनि मागे कां ती भिक्षा ?”
My
translation, of course, does not do justice to Savarkar’s poetry, but I do hope
that it does justice to the content
of it. The lines 31-40 are missing from it as I was not confident that I had
grasped the meaning. I shall add them at a later date.
On
an aside, to enjoy this poem to the fullest, you must listen to the excellent
musical rendition of it by Swardish Bharat Balvalli. I listen to this song many
times a day! The CD is available here:
So
here I put before you Savarkar’s Swadeshicha Phatka and my translation of it on the occasion of
his birth anniversary:
Swadeshi Drive
|
|
आर्यबंधु उठा उठा कां मठासारखे नटा सदा
हटा सोडूनी कटा करूं या म्लेंछपटां ना धरूं कदा
काश्मीराच्या शाली त्यजुनी अलपाकाला कां हो भुलतां
मलमल त्यजुनी वलवल चित्तीं हलहलके पट कां वरितां ?
राजमहेंद्री चीट त्यजोनी विटकें चिट तें का घेतां
दैवें मिळतां वाटि इच्छितां नरोटी नाहीं का आतां ?
नागपुरचें रेशिम भासे तागपटासें परि परक्या
रठ्ठ बनाती मठ्ठ लोक हो मऊ लागती तुम्हां कश्या ?
येवलि सोडून पितांबरांना विजार करण्या सटिन पहा
बेजारचि तुम्हि नटावयामधिं विचार करतो कोणि न हा १०
केलि अनास्था तुम्हीची
स्वतः मग अर्थातचि कला बुडे
गेलें धनची नेलें हरूनी
मेलां तुम्हि तरि कोण रडे ?
अरे अपणची पूर्वी होतों
सकल कलांची खाण अहा
भरतभूमीच्या कुशीं दीप
ते कलंक आतां अम्ही पहा
जगभर भरुनी उरला होता
नुरला आतां व्यापार
सकलही कलाभिज्ञ तेधवां
अज्ञ अतां आम्ही थोर
निर्मियली मयसभा अम्हिंचिना
पांडव किरिटी अठवा रे
मठ्ठ लोक हो लाज कांहिंतरि
? लठ्ठ असुनी शठ बनलो
रे
आम्रफलाच्या कोईमध्यें
धोतरजोडा वसे तदा
होते जेथें प्रतिब्रह्मेची, धिक् अम्हि जन्मुनि
अपवादा २०
हे परके हरकामीं खुलविति
भुलविति वरवर वाचेनें
व्यवहारी रीत असे
बराबर सदा हरामी वृत्तीनें
कामधेनुका भरतभूमिका
असुनि मागे कां
ती भिक्षा ?
सहस्त्र कोसांवरुनी
खासा पैका हरतो प्रभुदीक्षा
नेउनि कच्चा माल आमुचा
देती साचा पक्क रुपें
आमच्यावरी पोट भरी परि
थोरि कशाची तरी खपे
पहा तयांची हीच रीत
हो मिती नसे त्या लबाडिला
नाना कर्में नाना वर्में
देश असा हा लुबाडिला
निमुलीं हातांमधलीं
फडकीं फडकत नाना ध्वज वरतीं
हडेलहपसे करुनि शिपाई
निघत सवारी जगभर ती ३०
याला आतां उपाय बरवा
एकी करवा मन भरवा
ओतप्रोत अभिमानें हरवा
देशी धंदे पट धरवा
परके वरवर कितीहि बोलति
गोडगोड तरि मनिं समजा
सुंदर म्यानीं असे असिलता
घातचि होइल झट उमजा
रावबाजि जरि गाजि जहाले
राज्यबुडाऊ तरि मुख्य
सख्य असें परक्यांचे
यांचे गोष्ट हृदयिं ही धरुं लख्ख
वैर टाकुं या यास्तव
लवकर खैर करो परमेश्वर ती
निश्चय झाला मागें अपुला
परदेशि पटें ना धरुं तीं
चलाचला जाउं या घेउं
या देशि पटांला पटापटा
जाडेंभरडें गडे कसेंही
असो सेवुं परि झटाझटा ५०
ना स्पर्शूं त्या पशूपटाला
मऊ वर, विखारचि भावूं
घेऊं खडतर अंतीं सुखकर
धर्माचि मानुनियां जाऊं
आजवरी जरि भुललों खुललों
तत्कपटाला अविचारे
जाउं द्या चला गतगोष्टींचें
स्मरणची नको हेंचि बरें
द्रव्यखाणि ही खोरें
घेउनि परकीं पोरें खणती रे
एकचित्त या करूं गड्यांनों
वित्त जिंकुं तें पुनरपि रे
विश्वेश्वरि ती नारायणि
ही यमहरिहर अदि सुरवरिणी
कर्मसिध्दिसी दावो नेउनि मोद देति निजभक्तजनीं
दर अज्ञानी रजनी जावो
सांग प्रकाशो रवि थोर
वरावयाला रत्नपटाला
करो आर्य ते रण घोर ६०
कवितारूपी माला अर्पी
आर्य बुधांला सार्थक हा
भक्तांकरवीं मन देवासी
सेवायासी अर्पण हा
|
Wake
up, O Arya Brothers,
Ever
you are dressed like a fop
Put
aside this obstinacy
Plot to never touch
foreign cloth
Lured
by trifles as you are
Kashmir
shawl you forgo
Why
fancying the cheap stuff
Precious mulmul you
let go?
Rajmahendri
chintz giving up
Cheap
quality chintz you favor
When
God has given you a bowl
Why the coconut shell
you prefer?
Nagpur
silk to jute you liken
O
Ye Fools! But how come
The
rough foreign fabrics
As being soft you
welcome?
You
look to trousers made of satin
N’
matchless pitambar you dismiss
Beffuddled,
in the throes of bedecking
You utterly fail to
grasp this II 10 II
By
this treachery that you fostered
Art
is lost, wealth looted n’ taken away
So
even upon your death
Who shall shed tears,
pray?
We
were the seat of all arts fine
In
the days bygone, oh
In
the shining beacon of our Bharatland
Just look at the blot
we are, lo
No
more is the trade
That
once worldwide was in full spate
Ignoramuses
when connoisseurs of art
Now we are great?
Oh
do dwell upon the great Pandavas
Recall
they built the Mayasabha for us
Oh
Fops, have some shame
Though replete, you
became foolish thus
Two
dhotis could then be
Packed
in a mango seed
Fie!
Where existed utopia, we were born
And took exception,
indeed! II 20 II
Lure
us with their flattering speech
Do
these foreign master of all trades
Their
modus operandi may seem correct
But always their
attitude is base
Our
Motherland is a Kaamdhenu
Why
should she be begging for alms, aye?
From
thousands of miles away
The British our
wealth shanghai
Taking
away our raw materials
They
give it a fine polished form, lo
Live
off us they do
But whose greatness
goes?
Look,
‘tis this very style of theirs
With
no end to their skullduggery
With
various acts and denunciations
They looted so much
our country
Now
all kinds of flags wave o’er us
Our
hands of children’s shawl bereft
The
procession of marching troops
Off to the wide world
it left II 30 II
For
this there is but one answer
Let
immense pride soak afresh
Into
every corner of your mind
And support our local
business
Sweet
though the foreigners glib words
But
one thing is very plain
Beautiful
the sword’s sheath may be
The sword is bound to
give pain
Though
we had many heroes and brave ones
Responsible
they are for our country’s plight
For
they surely befriended the foreigners
Hold this thought in
your hearts tight
Let’s
quickly be rid of antipathy
May
we be blessed by God
Long
ago we took an oath
Never to touch the
foreign cloth
C’mon!
C’mon! Let us go
Get
the local cloths, quickly-quickly
Thick
n’ coarse, however it may be
We will don it in a
jiffy II 50 II
Softer
though it may be
We
will not touch that cloth so beastly
Dharma
it is to embrace the local
Difficult now, will
bring joy ultimately
Enchanted
n’ deceived by fabrications
So
thoughtlessly we were though
Let
it be, it’s better not to
Dwell over things
past so
With
spades in their hands
These
foreigners dig our gold mine
Folks,
come together and single-mindedly
Take over our lost
wealth fine
Vishweshwari,
Narayani, Yama
Vishu,
Shiva, n’ Suvarini
May
they bless our acts to fruition
And
delight their devotees many
Let
every ignoramus advise the mighty sun
To
shed light that night begone
Let
such Aryas fight fiercely to
Maintain their
bedecked foppish tone
I
offer unto the wise Aryas
My
garland of this purposeful rendering
That
dedicatedly in the service of God
They
may fulfill this offering
|
No comments:
Post a Comment